


Chasing Starlight

by likezoinxman



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gen, M/M, but hopefully it reads as pre-duo/quatre, i didn't manage to get to the shippy part, this is mostly gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21726355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likezoinxman/pseuds/likezoinxman
Summary: Duo just wanted a way out of his boring life. He didn't expect it to come in the form of a cute guy that claims to be a...star?
Relationships: Duo Maxwell/Quatre Raberba Winner
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: Unorthodox Undercover Work Mini Bang





	Chasing Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> So here's almost 7k of nothing. *dabs* This is super rushed and ends rather abruptly and if i had better time management skills, it would be about 5k words longer. Just know I could do better and I'm kind of ashamed to even post this. u_u
> 
> but anyway! don't focus on the fic. instead give all your attention to the lovely art Seitou drew for this. [Art Here](https://seitou.tumblr.com/post/189538730030/my-coctribution-for-museaddleds-lovely-story-for) *will smith pose*
> 
> it doesn't really match anything that happens in the fic bc tbh i didn't even know what i was going to be doing when we initially spoke about it so that's all on me and my poor planning skills
> 
> this is also unbeta'd bc my life's a mess and yolo

“Look, a shooting star. Make a wish.”

Duo turned his face up towards the night sky, a frown on his features as he barely catches the streak of light across the sky that falls towards the ground.

“I wish I could get out of this hell hole,” he muttered under his breath. 

His companion laughed and gave him a shove. “You’re not supposed to say it out loud, dumbass.”

Duo shrugged. “Whatever. Wishes are for chumps. No shooting star is gonna get me out of this town,” he said with a sigh. 

He was tired of working for scraps, tired of barely making it paycheck to paycheck, living every dull day to dull day. He wanted to go out and have an adventure, live freely and without any of the burdens of everyday life dragging him down.

“Well, I don’t know about that. You know you could get a pretty good pay out for something like that. Stars are magic or some shit like that.”

Duo scoffed. “Yeah, right. Magic.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I believed it. Just saying what other people say.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, get back to work.” 

—

Two days later there was another shooting star. Duo's in his tiny shithole of an apartment, washing dishes when something makes him look up out the window and into the sky. He rolls his eyes a bit remembering the conversation he had just a few days prior at the distant streak in the sky.

"I wish something interesting would happen around here," he said sarcastically before he shook his head, a light chuckle escaping him and went back to rinsing the plate in his hand. 

He jumps a few moments later when there’s a loud CRASH that shakes his tiny apartment and he looks up again in alarm, eyes widening. He leaned across the sink and quickly opened his window to stick his head out. Not too far away, he can see smoke billowing into the sky. 

"What the-" he starts before he cuts himself off. He quickly turns off the water and grabs a towel to dry his hands, tossing it back onto the counter carelessly as he ran towards the front door. He grabbed his jacket on the way and didn't even bother to close his door properly behind him as he runs down the halls of his apartment building. 

Once out in the cool night air, he frantically looks around. Was he the only one that felt that. Or was he the only one that cared. If he hadn't already been watching, he might have ignored it himself, thinking it was just another explosion at one of the nearby plants. 

Zipping up his jacket, he takes off at a run towards the woods where he'd seen the smoke coming from. Was it that star? Was it even a star? There was probably nothing left of the thing after that crash but damn if he wasn't curious.

This was literally the only exciting thing that had happened in his life for a very long time.

He slows to a walk after a while, panting slightly at the exertion of running. He really needed to work on his cardio. 

Finally he comes to the crater. It's not that big or deep, but the heat emanating off of it is almost unbearable. He gets as close as he can stand and tries to peer down into it. 

He doesn't know what he's expecting. He didn't even think to bring a flashlight to see. After a moment, he sees a dim light among the smoke and steam and squints. 

"What the hell...?" he murmurs to himself and risks getting a little closer. The heat is almost too much so he sheds his jacket, letting it fall to the ground without a second thought. 

He can barely see the ground and doesn't realize how close he is to the edge before he's sliding down into the crater with a yell. 

He groans after he's stopped. Thankfully, it really wasn't that deep. He sits up, rubbing the back of his head. "God, what the fuck..."

"What's a fuck?" 

Duo freezes, eyes widening at the unfamiliar and unexpected voice. 

"Wh-what?"

"I've never heard that phrase before. What's a fuck?"

Out of the steam comes a glowing figure. Duo can only watch dumbfounded as it approaches him and then kneels in front of him. The first thing he notices (besides the fact that they’re fucking glowing) are their eyes. 

They’re bluer than anything he’d ever seen before.

The second thing he notices is that they’re not wearing any clothes. 

Glancing down briefly, Duo quickly averts his gaze up towards the sky, closing them tightly for good measure. “Oh my god, where are your pants!” he exclaimed in distress. 

“Pants? What’s a pants?”

Duo’s eyes snapped open at that and he looked back to the other, really looking at them closely. There was no way they were a normal human being. An android maybe? That might explain the glowing. 

“What are you…?”

The other blinked at him in confusion before he smiled and giggled slightly. “Why, I’m a star of course!”

\--

Duo doesn't know what to do but he does the only logical thing he could think of when you find a naked person in the woods.

He took them home. 

He climbed out of the crater and turned around to help the other out of the crater. He quickly grabbed his jacket off the ground and draped it over their shoulders. 

"Okay, this ain't much, but at least it's better than being stark fucking naked," he said, trying very hard to keep his eyes above their neck. 

The blond looks at him, a confused look on their face, and tilts his head slightly. He grabs onto the jacket, fingers gently rubbing the fabric and then smiles softly to himself. "What is this?"

"It's a jacket," Duo says, then realized the other probably has no idea what he's doing. Were they really a star? That made no fucking sense. They must have hit their head or something. 

He let out an exasperated sigh and reached over to gently put the other's arms into the sleeves of the jacket and very carefully zipped it up, making sure not to touch anything he wasn't supposed to. 

_God, this was so weird_ , he thought to himself before shaking his head. It was only until they got back to his apartment then he'd give him some pants. 

"Alright, let's go," he said, turning on his heel before he thought about the situation too much and started walking back the way he'd come. 

It takes a few steps before he hears the other shuffling behind him. 

Duo's mind is going a thousand miles a minute. He has no idea what is going on. He should've stopped to explore the crater more. There was no way this guy was an actual, literal star, right? He was probably from one of the colonies. Maybe he was a spy. 

But he had been glowing, right? Had he imagined that? Had he hit _his_ head harder than he thought?

_Fuck_ , he thought to himself, reaching up to rub at his temple. He was getting a headache thinking about all this. He'd take them back to his apartment and learn more. Maybe in the morning he'd go back and explore the crater more. 

When he gets to the edge of the tree line, he stops and looks around. The streets look clear. No one was ever out at this time of night. There was no point. But still...

He turned to his companion, chancing a quick look down to his bare bottom half. "Okay wait, take that off," he said quickly, reaching over to unzip the jacket.

The other looked at him startled, impossible blue eyes widening. Duo ignored him, and gently tugged the jacket down his arms. Once it was free, he wrapped it around the other's waist, tying it at the front.

It was awkward, but thankfully the other didn't say anything about it. Just looked at him with quiet confusion and curiosity. 

Duo stood back once he was done, and nodded. "Okay, that should be better. At least this way you won't be flashing anybody on accident."

"Flashing?"

"Ya know? Showing the goods."

"Goods?"

Duo groaned and shook his head, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Ah, forget it. I'll explain it to you later. Let's just get to my apartment."

The other still looked confused but nodded, and gave him another sweet smile. "Okay." 

\--

Once safe in his apartment, Duo was at a loss. The man- star?- stands just inside his apartment, looking around in wonder. He doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact that he's practically naked. 

Duo pressed his hand over his face for a brief moment, leaning back against his door to think. What was he doing? He had no idea. What had seemed like a good idea back in the woods, now seemed like the dumbest shit he could've ever done. 

If this person ended up being a spy or something worse, it would be his fault for whatever they did. He should've called the authorities. Or better yet. He should've minded his own damn business. 

Wasn't that the number one rule of surviving in this shit hole of a city? Keep your head down and mind you own fucking business. 

Fuck.

" _Fuck_."

"Fuck?" 

Duo groaned again and rubbed at his head in aggravation, pulling the hair out of the braid and mussing it up. "Okay, don’t repeat everything I say, alright?"

The blond tilted his head to the side, and Duo sighed, slumping against the door. He wanted to sleep. 

"Okay, first things first!" he said instead, pushing himself away from the door. "Clothes."

Again the blond gave him a curious look, but he didn't say anything. 

"Follow me," he said, gesturing for the other as he walked towards his bedroom door. 

Without worrying about if the other was following him, he grabbed some clothes for the blond. A pair of underwear, some sweats and an undershirt to sleep in. 

When he turns around, he almost drops everything in his arms. The blond is _right_ there behind him and he hadn't even notice. "Whoa whoa, personal space, buddy!" He cried out, quickly taking a few steps back. 

The other’s eyebrows twitch with confusion, furrowing slightly. "What is personal space?"

"Um, my bubble!" Duo exclaimed, waving his arms around him. "This? Is my personal space! Don't come in it without permission."

"Oh. I apologize."

Duo sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's fine. Just surprised me is all." 

There's an awkward beat of silence before Duo holds out the clothes. "Here. Put these on," he says, then hesitates a moment, remembering how the other reacted to his jacket. "Do you know how to do that?"

The blond shakes his head, a bemused smile on his face. "I do not."

"Right. Of course you don't."

"Okay, come on. I'll help you out, but only this once. After this you gotta do it on your own. I ain't your parent."

"Yes, of course. I understand."

Duo sighed again and took the clothes back from the other, and put them on his bed. He grabbed the underwear and then hesitated again, realizing just what he was doing. 

Dressing what looked like a full grown man was not how he expected his night to turn out. 

"Okay, you're gonna put one leg in these at a time, got it?" he said, holding them out to him. 

The blond takes the garment from him and stares at it in mild confusion before looking back at Duo again. 

Duo held back another sigh and grabbed the underwear back. "Like this," he said, then mimed putting his legs through the underwear. "But ya know, actually put your legs through it."

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah..."

After getting the star set in some clothes, Duo showed him the rest of his apartment. 

"Do you use the bathroom?" 

It sounded like a stupid question. Of course the blond used the bathroom. Every human did. But he still can’t get the image of them glowing out of his mind and no matter how cynical he wanted to be, he couldn’t think of any logical explanation for it. 

"I don't know what that means."

"Okay, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess."

"Here's the couch. You can sleep here for the night and tomorrow we'll figure out what the hell you are and where you came from."

"I told you already. I'm a star. I came from the sky."

"Yeah, but that's the thing. Stars aren't people. They’re rocks floating up in space. So, that doesn’t make any sense. 

"It does when you're magic."

Duo's brows bunched and he scoffed. "Right. Magic. That’s- Yeah, okay, this is a conversation for another day. For now, let’s just sleep.”

He turns to head to his room. He’s ready for this night to be over. 

"What's your name?"

"Huh?" Duo blinks in surprise at the question before he huffs out a laugh. "Oh, right. I never introduced myself. How rude of me. Name's Duo. Duo Maxwell. Nice 'ta meetcha!" he said, extending his hand out to the other. 

The blond stared at his hand curiously before tentatively reaching out to place his palm against Duo's, giving Duo a searching look. 

"I'm Quatre," he said with that same sweet smile from before. 

It totally didn't make Duo feel weird things in his chest at all. 

"Right. Quatre the Star, then, huh?"

"That's right."

Duo has to stop himself from rolling his eyes and then he realizes that they're still standing there with their hands pressed palm to palm. The soft skin pressed against his own rough calloused hands feel nice. It's warm and makes his skin feel a little tingly. 

At that thought, he quickly pulls his hand away and wipes it against his pant leg. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning then, Quatre."

The blond just nods and watches Duo as he backs away towards his room.

\--

Duo doesn't sleep much that night. He lays in bed, staring up at the ceiling in the dark and wonders what the hell he was thinking. Did he really just go out to investigate a mysterious crash? Did he really _find_ someone in that crater? Did he really **_bring them back_ ** to his goddamn apartment?

Had he lost his mind? Every decision he’d made that night went against everything he'd ever been taught on how to survive in this god forsaken world. 

\--

Close to morning, he finally falls asleep and then he's woken up what feels like only moments later by loud shouting and doors slamming. He sits up in bed in confusion, reaching over to grab his phone to check the time. 

"What the fuck," he muttered to himself before quickly tossing the blankets aside and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. 

He quickly exits his room and not paying attention to Quatre, he makes a beeline for the window.

Military vehicles line the street, soldiers milling around waiting for orders. He can see some of them heading into the woods. 

And there’s only one reason for them to be doing that. 

"Shit."

"What is it?"

Duo looks over at the blond as he makes his way to the window to look down. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. They gotta be after you, right?" There was no other explanation. 

Quatre tilts his head to the side and gives him a confused look. 

"Ya know what, nevermind. We gotta get out of here." 

The confused expression is still on Quatre’s face. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Who are those people?”

Duo shakes his head. “There’s no time to explain, just come on,” he says, grabbing Quatre by the arm and tugging him away from the window. 

Once they’re away from the window, Duo stops to think for a moment, mind whirling. He wasn't prepared for this, but he feels like an idiot for not expecting something like this to happen. 

If anything he’s surprised they didn’t come in the middle of the night but maybe it took awhile for anyone to report the crash. 

He glances at the window again and then rushes to his front door. He sticks his head out and looks up and down the hall. It didn't seem like there were any soldiers on his floor yet. 

"Alright, we should have a couple minutes to get ready. We can get out through the fire escape." 

He doesn’t wait for Quatre to respond before he’s heading back to his room. He grabs some pants and shirts for him and Quatre then heads back to the living room. 

"Fuck, you need shoes too," he realizes as he tosses the clothes to the blond and immediately heads back to his room for socks and shoes.

"They should fit well enough for now. We'll get you a better pair when we're out of here."

He doesn't waste any more time changing and slipping his shoes on.

"Hurry up, man, we ain't got all day," he hurries Quatre and rushed over to his closet again to grab his jacket and a hoodie for Quatre. 

As Quatre finished changing, Duo sticks his head out the front door again. He can hear the soldiers on the floor below, knocking on doors and roughly talking to the occupants that live below. 

"Fuck, alright, let's go"

He grabbed Quatre by the arm and dragged him to his room. There’s a fire escape there that leads out to an alley.

He lets out a huge sigh of relief when the alley seems to be empty. An oversight on the soldiers part? Or maybe there really was a God out there looking out for him. 

Either way he wasn’t going to question it. 

He ushers Quatre out first and follows suit. Once they’re safely on the ground, he drags Quatre further away from the street crawling with the military at a brisk pace. 

“Looks like it’s our lucky day, but let’s get as far away from here as possible before they start spreading out and searching the city.”

He glances back at Quatre who is looking at him, eyes wide and confused and maybe a little scared now. “Were those people dangerous?”

“Yeah, they can be. I doubt they had anything pleasant in mind for you, though.” 

They don’t speak for another couple blocks, before Duo thinks they’re far enough away from his apartment building to slip into the busy city streets without notice. 

He pauses just at the mouth of an alley, looking up and down the streets for any signs of soliders. “Okay, here are some rules. One, don’t go around telling people you’re a star. That’s weird and someone’s bound to blab to a soldier about it if they over hear you. Got it?”

At Quatre’s nod, Duo continues. “And don’t do any of that glowing shit you were doing last night.”

“I can’t really control that. I’m a star, shining is what we do.”

Duo stares for a moment before he snaps. He grabs a handful of Quatre’s hoodie and pushes him against the wall. "Do you understand what they'll do to you when they catch you? You'll get experimented on or worse. They wanna use you, you got that? And they're not going to be nice about it,” he says vehemently.

Quatre’s eyes widen and he swallows before he nods. “I’m sorry. I’ll try.”

Duo sighs heavily and releases Quatre. “I guess that’s all I can ask.” He rubs his face as he turns away. 

His head was starting to hurt and now that he had time to think, he wasn’t even sure why he was trying so hard to protect Quatre. He was running on instinct before but now- Now there was no reason for them to even stay together. 

He could ditch Quatre and lay low until the military move on from his neighborhood then go back to his live his life like nothing happened. 

He turns to look at Quatre again who is smiling at him. 

Duo’s brows furrow. “What.”

“Thank you.”

Two simple words combined with that smile and all thoughts of ditching Quatre fly out of his head. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re lucky I’m such a good guy.”

Quatre smiles again and to Duo's horror, he starts to glow. "Whoa! Hey!" Duo quickly proclaims, looking around hurriedly as he grabs Quatre's hood and pulls it over his head. "Didn’t I just tell you _not_ to do that!"

“And I told you I can’t help it.”

“But why now?”

"I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll try to stop it.” Quatre closed his eyes and took a deep breath, brows furrowing as he visibly concentrated. 

Duo looked around nervously as he did so, but no one was paying any attention to them. He stayed in front of Quatre just in case though, keeping him blocked in from the view of the other pedestrians.

After a few moments, the golden glow emanating from Quatre’s skin finally faded back to his normal pale complexion. 

Duo let out a sigh of relief but still he looked around shiftily, but no one was looking, or paying any attention to them. Why would they? Everyone had their own lives to worry about. No one cared about a couple of guys huddled up in an alley.

  
  


After a moment, Duo grabbed Quatre by the wrist and tugged him out into the sidewalk, joining the stream of pedestrians. “Come on. We should find a motel somewhere to lay low in for the day.”

Quatre nodded at him and without another word followed after Duo.

\--

The first thing Duo does when they get into the room is make sure all the windows are secure and shut the curtains tight. Once he's confident no one can look into the room, he turns to Quatre who is sitting on the edge of one of the beds and points to him sternly. 

"Do not go anywhere near the windows," he says, brows furrowed slightly to show just how serious he was. 

Quatre looks at him and blinks a few times before he nods. "Okay."

Duo's eyes narrow at the blond before his shoulders sag and he finally lets himself relax a little. The good thing was that the army wasn't actually after them yet. They probably didn't even know what they were looking for.

He walks over and sits down next to Quatre on the bed then flops back onto his back. He folds his hands on his stomach and lets out a sigh. "I have no idea what to do next," he said, mostly to himself. "I don't even know why I'm doing this."

He looks over at Quatre, who is looking down at him curiously. He doesn't know why he's putting so much effort to protect someone he doesn't even know. 

He turns his attention back to the ceiling and squints. "Ugh, I guess I can call him and see if he can help."

"Who?"

Duo makes a face, nose wrinkling in distaste as he mutters the last name he ever wanted to pass through his lips. "Heero."

"Who is Heero?"

"An asshole," Duo says promptly before letting out another sigh. "But also a really good friend."

"He will help us?"

"Yeah, maybe. I hope he will, anyway." 

Heero was always a tough character to crack. He came off as serious to most people, but if you knew him, you knew he had a sense of humor. A sick one sometimes. 

He'd help them, but Duo would have to pay for it. Either in humiliation or...well, that's probably what it's going to take. Heero will either make him beg or sucker punch him again. Either way, Duo's dignity will take the brunt of the damage as always. 

Despite that, Duo thought of Heero as one of his best friends. Funny, huh?

Duo groans and sits up. "I'll give him a call. You wait here," he said to Quatre as he made his way to the door. As he walks out, he turns and gives Quatre another serious look. "Do not open this for anyone but me, you understand?"

Duo paused a moment, thinking about it. He had the key with him. He could just let himself in when he was done. "In fact, don't even come near the door at all. Stay away from the windows and the door, you here?"

Quatre nods, eyes wide. "I won't go near either one. I promise."

Duo gives him another long look before he nods his head and heads out the door, closing it firmly behind him. 

\--

Once out in the hall, he had half a mind to just call the army and hand Quatre over to them. Maybe there’d be some kind of reward and he could finally get out of this shithole of a city.

It’s only a passing thought. There then gone in the next instant. 

He thinks about Quatre, how he looked at him with complete trust and he feels like shit just having thought about betraying him. 

He makes a disgusted expression at himself and gives himself a solid smack across his face.

“Get it together, Maxwell,” he muttered to himself, and makes his way down towards the end of the walkway, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

He quickly finds Heero’s contact info and hits the call button. He hopes it hasn’t been disconnected. He’d be screwed if it was. It’d been a few months since he last heard from Heero. He was a paranoid asshole and changed his number regularly. 

The call goes directly to voicemail and he cursed under his breath. “Heero, you asshole! Call me back. I need your help,” he said when it came time to leave a message. 

He ended the call and squeezed his phone in frustration. He almost wanted to throw it, but couldn’t afford to get a new one if he destroyed this one so held himself back. 

He took a deep breath after a moment and let it out in a rush, body sagging momentarily. All he could do was wait now.

Well, he wasn’t going to wait forever. If Heero didn’t call him back in the next few hours, he’d have to figure something else out. 

With a backward glance at the motel room door, he decided to grab some food while he waited. He didn’t know if Quatre needed to eat, but he was starving. All that excitement of the morning was starting to catch up with him. 

\--

Heero finally called him back much later that night. Quatre was asleep. (Apparently stars _did_ need to sleep. And eat. He had devoured the food Duo had brought back for him with gusto.)

He quickly answered the call and rushed into the bathroom, putting the phone to his ear. “It’s about fucking time,” he said as greeting, then immediately regrets it when he’s met with silence.

He’s almost afraid Heero hung up on him but when he checks, the cal isls still connected. 

“You said you needed help.”

“Yeah, I did. And it took you an entire day to call me back.”

“I was in the middle of something. What do you need?”

Duo sighed heavily. He gently set the toilet lid down and took a seat, rubbing his face tiredly. “I found something...or _someone_ actually. He says he’s a...star, like an actual literal star, what the hell, right?” He pauses to shake his head. He was starting to ramble.

“Anyway, he crashed in the woods by my apartment and I took him home, but then the next morning the military was all over the place and I’m pretty sure they’re looking for him and-” He cuts himself off with a groan. Saying it all out like this. It sounded so stupid. What was wrong with him?

He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. “I just need to get some papers for him so we can leave the city.”

Heero is silent for a long time but Duo can hear him typing. “Can you send me a picture of him?” 

“He’s asleep.”

“In the morning, then.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll send it in the morning.”

“What’s his name?”

“Quatre.”

“Last name?”

“I- I don’t know. I’m not sure he has one.”

“Hm. Send the picture in the morning. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Before Duo could even get another word in, Heero disconnected the call. 

Duo glared down at Heero’s name on his screen. He wants to be annoyed but he’s too grateful for the other man. He may be a rude bastard, but he was good at what he did. 

Duo was also grateful that he hadn’t made him beg. 

Though he was sure that would come later. 

\--

The next morning, Duo wakes up first. He goes out to grab some food and when he gets back Quatre is still asleep. 

“Hey, sleepy head, wake up,” he said, nudging the blond gently. “I got breakfast.”

Quatre’s brows furrow slightly and he lets out a soft moan as he wakes up. Duo absolutely does not think that’s the cutest thing he’s ever witnessed. 

He watched as Quatre slowly woke up, reaching up to rub his eyes tiredly. It took a moment before he realizes that he was being weird and he quickly averts his gaze, turning back to the table where he’d set their breakfast down. 

Nothing too fancy. Just two breakfast sandwiches from the closest fast food place. He takes a seat and waits for the other to get up. 

“Sleeping is...very strange,” Quatre said after he sat up in the bed.

“Oh?”

“Yes. I am not accustomed to it. I had...very strange visions.”

Duo snorts out a laugh. “Dreams. They’re called dreams.”

Quatre tilts his head to the side, and damn, that was starting to be cute, too. “What are dreams?”

Duo shakes his ridiculous thoughts away and clears his throat. “Uh, just your brain processing everything that happened to you during the day or whatever. Usually just nonsense though,” he explained, waving his arm dismissively. “They don’t mean anything.

“Ah, I see. I can’t seem to recall them now that I’m thinking about it.”

Duo chuckled. “Yup, sounds about right. Here, come on and eat and then I gotta take your picture for Heero.”

Quatre blinked and looked at him in confusion. “My picture?”

“Yeah, he asked for it last night.”

Quatre doesn’t say anything else in response, just lets out a yawn and gets to his feet, slowly making his way to the table to join Duo. 

They eat quietly. Quatre seems to like the breakfast sandwich. He lets out these little pleased noises as he eats. (And okay, yeah, that was definitely cute.)

Once they’re done, Duo has Quatre stand against the wall and snaps a few pictures of him, sending them to Heero.

\--

Duo's glad that it's almost winter and being as bundled up as Quatre was wouldn't seem suspicious. Before they checked out of the motel, Duo had gone out and gotten him a scarf and sunglasses as well. He didn't want to take _any_ kind of risk of anyone recognizing Quatre, or realizing what he was.

Even with the disguise, Duo was nervous. There were soldiers everywhere. Or so it seemed. Duo couldn’t turn any which way without seeing one of them. 

Were they out there looking for Quatre, or was it just a coincidence. The soldiers like to wander the city sometimes when they were off duty, but Duo never realized just how common they were among the regular citizens. 

He shook his head and tried to act as natural as possible. As long as they didn’t do anything to draw attention to themselves they were safe. 

"Alright. It should only take an hour to get to Heero's place. I don’t know how long it’ll take for him to get your papers done but we can chill at his place until he’s done."

"Where will we go?"

Duo paused a moment to look at Quatre. He hadn't thought that far ahead if he was being honest. He was just making this up as he went. One step at a time. 

"Not sure yet," he answered truthfully. "Maybe we can stowaway in a ship and make it up into space. A nice peaceful colony. You can be back up among the stars. I bet it'll feel just like home."

He's rambling a bit, talking to fill the space, hoping something will come to him as the words rush out of his mouth. 

"That sounds nice."

Duo laughed. "I'm glad you like it. I don't know how we'll do it, but we'll figure it out. First things first, though."

Quatre nodded in reply but didn't say anything else. He looked around at the other people on the streets, peering into every shop window they passed by. Duo wished they could stop and explore. Quatre was so full of curiosity and wonder. It was a shame he couldn't let him go wild. He knew he was probably full of questions too. 

Duo smiled as he watched Quatre, corner of his mouth quirking up without him even realizing he was doing it. 

Quatre suddenly looked over at him and smiled back. That gentle curve of his mouth that Duo was beginning to be _too_ familiar with. It made his chest feel warm, and his smile widened slightly before he realized what he was doing and he quickly shook his head. 

"Come on, quit looking around like you're some kind of tourist. You're gonna call too much attention to yourself like that."

Quatre chuckled and ducked his head. "My apologies. The Earth has always been a fascination of mine. Watching you for all these centuries and now finally being able to see it all first hand. I can't help but be excited."

Duo chuckled at the explanation. "Nah, I get it. But there will be time for that when we get you someplace safe."

"You're right. I'll try to contain my curiosity for now."

"I mean, if you have questions, I can try to answer them for ya," Duo offered. He didn't want to crush the wonder that Quatre had about the world. It was refreshing to see after all the jaded people Duo interacted with normally. 

Quatre smiled at him again and Duo's stomach fluttered slightly. "Oh, that would be lovely. Thank you, Duo," Quatre said and clasped his hands together. 

And so for the next few blocks, Quatre asked about every little thing he saw that caught his eye, and Duo did his best to explain what each object was and its purpose. 

\--

Much to Duo’s surprise, Heero was ready for them when they finally got there. He barely said a word before he was handing Duo a folder. Brows rising high on his forehead, Duo takes the folder and flips through it. There’s every kind of legal paper you’d need. Even a passport. 

“How the hell do you do this so fast?” he asked, looking at Heero in wonder. He could honestly have kissed Heero in that moment. The man was a miracle worker. 

He didn’t though. 

He valued his life too much to risk that. 

Heero looks at him and gives a half shrug. “Magic.”

Duo squints at Heero before he rolls his eyes at him. “Whatever, man,” he muttered as he continued to flip through the papers. He trusted that everything they would need would be there but it didn’t hurt to double check. 

When he finally looked back up, Heero is staring across the room. Duo followed his gaze and realized he was watching Quatre. His gaze makes Duo a little uneasy. It’s as intense as always and unreadable. 

“So, uh,” he started and waited for Heero to turn his gaze towards him before continuing. 

“How much do I owe you? And can I ask you for another favor?”

Heero’s eyebrows shot up at that second question before his eyes narrow. “What do you need?”

Duo chuckled sheepishly, scratching at the side of his face. “Well, we need a car. If we’re leaving the city, we’ll need transportation to get to the next town. I don’t feel safe hitch hiking with Quatre.”

Heero hummed softly. “That could end badly.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know how much a star is worth?”

Duo’s eyes widen at the unexpected question. “What?”

“I looked it up last night.”

Duo shakes his head. “I don’t care about that. I’m just trying to get him away from the military.”

“I’m just warning you. The military isn’t all you have to worry about. If anyone finds out what he is-”

“They’ll try to take him for themselves,” he finished as the realization dawns on him. 

“Not only that, but supposedly stars have magical properties too. They can be used to heal illness, or lengthen a lifespan.”

Despite not believing in magic himself, he knew plenty of people that did. Even if it wasn’t true, he wouldn’t put it past someone to try to use Quatre in some kind of stupid ritual. 

He groans and places his hand over his face. “Ugh, so basically trust no one that isn’t you or one of the other guys?”

“Pretty much.”

\--

In the end, Heero gave him a car and told him he’d send him the bill. 

“If I told you now, you might be tempted to cash in your star,” he joked, which hadn’t been funny on multiple levels. 

But still he was grateful, and as he shook Heero’s hand in farewell, he brought him in for a quick hug. “Thanks, Heero,” he said, giving him a squeeze before stepping back. “I owe you one.”

“Oh, you owe me more than just one,” Heero replied, crossing his arms. “But good luck.”

\--

Leaving the city was worse than what Duo thought it would be, but Heero’s papers worked well enough and they didn’t get stalled too long at the gates. 

The whole ordeal took at least ten years off Duo’s lifespan, though. 

Once they were on the road, he began to relax. They’d be safe for now, hopefully. But now begged the question that Duo still didn’t have an answer for. 

Where were they going to go? Once the military searched the rest of the city and realized Quatre wasn’t there, they’d surely start searching the surrounding area and cities. 

The only thing they could do was go into space, right? Duo had threw out the idea without thinking before, but now that he’s thinking, that’s probably the safest place for Quatre.

At least for a little while. 

He glances over at Quatre as he drives, but Quatre seems transfixed watching the scenery pass them by. Duo guess it was a nice view if you’d never seen grass and trees before. 

After a few miles, he can’t stand the silence anymore and he finally starts up a conversation. 

“So, why did you come down to Earth anyway?”

Quatre pulls his attention away from the window and looks at him. He looks surprised by the question for a split second before his expression drops, and he looks down. “I...fell.”

Duo feels like an ass for even asking and putting that expression on Quatre’s face, but he doesn’t back down. 

“You fell? How?”

“I’m not sure...Falling is not something stars do lightly.”

  
Duo is thoughtful for a moment, fingers drumming against the steering wheel. “Do you want to go back up there?” he eventually asks, giving Quatre a side-long glance.

Quatre smiles sadly and nods. “I would very much like that, but I’m not sure how.”

Duo hesitates a moment. “It won’t be the same, but we can go to a colony, and we can figure out how to get you back where you belong. I might know someone that can help.”

Quatre turned his head and looked at Duo in surprise, eyes wide and shining brightly. “Truly?”

Duo swallowed and turned his face back towards the road. “I said _might_ , but yeah. He travels around with a circus so we’ll just figure out where he’ll be next and go there.”

“I would like that. Thank you, Duo. You are very kind.”

Duo can feel his face growing warm and he chuckled awkwardly. “Nah, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m just doing what any guy would do,” he says with a shrug.

“From my understanding, not all humans are as generous as you.”

“And what do you know about humans?” Duo asked, giving Quatre another look, one eyebrow raised. 

“I’ve observed your kind for centuries, Duo. They can be rather ruthless and blood thirsty.”

“Heh, I guess you’re right. I am pretty awesome,” he said with a lop-sided smile. He meant it as a joke, but Quatre smiled at him and nodded. 

“Yes, you are.” The sincerity in his voice was almost painful for Duo. 

He cleared his throat and gave a little laugh. He didn’t know what to say after that so he reached over and turned the radio on, letting the conversation drop between them. 

Now that they had some sort of plan, Duo’s brain was going through all the probabilities and risks to come. As long as they laid low, and no one realized what Quatre was, then they should be okay. 

He hoped. 


End file.
